We have watched as Macbeth's ambition ultimately leads to his demise. If you were a "tragic hero," what would be the "flaw" you possess that would ultimately lead you to your own ruin? Explain.
Macbeth's greatest flaw was ambition, and that eventually leads to his downfall. Now what would my greatest flaw be? That's a difficult question to answer because I have a lot of flaws that could destroy me in the long run. I am going to say that there's more than one that could lead to my downfall. If I had to pick I would have to say my conscience, my inability to lie, and the knack I have of over thinking things. I have a very guilty conscience and if I ever did anything bad like kill someone I would keep thinking and thinking about it and I would eventually have to tell someone what I did. I also tend to over think things like if I had to kill someone I would constantly worry about things like if someone saw me or if it's worth it to kill the person and if I did kill them what would happen cause I know people will eventually find out. Plus if I came up with a plan to do something wrong and the next day people asked what happened I wouldn't be able to look them in the eye or talk and if I did I'd be very nervous and I would burst out laughing or smile because that's what usually happens when I lie. These three things are kind of like a cycle actually and like go together very well. I think another flaw I have is being too nice and loyal because I wouldn't want to hurt anyone or anyone's feelings or be mean and that could be very bad for me.
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Felix Arambula
1/30/2014 01:11:46 pm
Macbeth, a tragic hero(protagonist of a tragedy), like every tragic hero that exists had a flaw that eventually led to his downfall. Now, I don't think I would ever want to be a tragic hero because I do not want to possess a flaw that would eventually kill me, but if i were to be a tragic hero, my flaws would be: greed for power, blinding ambition, and being naive. I am one of those people that once they get something that they love or like, they cannot get enough of it. If i were a tragic hero and I got some power, I would mostly likely want more power and would do whatever it takes to attain it(ambition.) The problem with that is that the tactics I would use would be unethical. I would most likely do some similar methods that Macbeth used like kill the king and other potential opponents that could interfere with my choreographs to attain power and sustain it. While I carry out my chroegraphs, or plans, I do not think my ambition would let me see the problems and consequences that could potentially arise from them, I guess that is why they call it 'blinding ambition.' Also, since I am naive(lacking experience and wisdom) when it comes to murders, I would probably make many mistakes, mistakes that could could be fatal; I could get caught when an investigation is conducted. For example, in the book, "Macbeth", we read that Macbeth had brought back the knives that he used to kill King Duncan when he was suppose to leave them there in order to make the crimes scene look genuine. If it were not for Lady Macbeth returning them for him, Macbeth most likely would have been caught and sent to jail or executed, who knows. It is always the smallest mistakes that get you caught or convicted. I would have probably made a mistake as well if I were to kill someone all on my own too. Furthermore, if I could have managed to get away with one murder, I would start to kill more people without remorse and become over-confident, but when you're over-confident, you feel like there is no way you can do anything wrong, which is relatively funny because when I get over confident, I tend to make more mistakes then when I am not. Moreover, once I make that one mistake, I can never go back and say I am sorry and expect to recieve a redemption because there will not be any. There would not be any because I killed innocent people for my own benefit and I was negilgent and did not see the consequences or think about how everyone else was affected by those murders; those people whom I would have murdered had a family, friends, and perhaps a significant other. Anyway, those three flaws, all which go together very well, would be more than adequate to compel me, a tragic hero, to a significant downfall, or even worse, death.
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Jason Zepeda
1/31/2014 11:04:40 am
My flaw is probably believing that I'm not worthy of anything. I don't have a large ego, in fact I have a pretty low self esteem. I don't think this question can even apply to me because, really, I'm not hero material. I guess by hero it means protagonist, but even then I think of myself as more of a bystander. My other flaw can be trying to live up to people's expectations while thinking that I can't. I should really have more confidence, but then again, it's the reason why a small victory can make my day.
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Yesenia Ramirez
1/31/2014 01:17:51 pm
My flaw would be being guilible sometimes. I believe almost everything except when I know the person. If the person does not have a long time knowing me or me knowing them then I will fall for any lie. It is also hard for me to lie because I end up ruin the jokes when I laugh. There was this one time when Victor Esteban was not looking and I stole his adress book " agenda" , he did not notice a thing. He blammed it on someone else. I was at the clear , but then I started to chuckle because he looked scared. In addition , being too nice can also be something that can harm me. People are vulnerable if they are too nice. Well it depends who you are, because I play around with my close friends. We all have different flaws , I seem to have a variety. However , I will soon have to face these flaws.
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Susana Gonzalez
2/1/2014 03:42:49 pm
Now Macbeth's greatest flaw was ambition, but I sometimes wondered what would be mine? It is indeed a hard question to respond to because I personally think that I have some flaws that can doom me . If I had to pick one of my flaws than it would probably be my conscience and the afterthoughts of my actions. I have a conscience that cannot hide anything at all cause at one point the truth would be out. For instance, if I ever commit anything wrong in life such as killing a person or robbing a person than I would continue to think about what I did and I would start to freak out that eventually I burts out the whole truth. I also tend to think a lot about the consequrnces of my actions. If I killed someone than afterwards I would start to think like, what if I go to jail than what's gonna happen to me or my family? In otherwords, I overthink the situation and I worry too much of my actions. These two things are very connected to each other. I think that another flaw that I might have is that I am too nice to evrybody because I do not want to be rude or hurt anyone's feelings in a way and this could be very bad towards me.
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Oscar Torres-Soria
2/2/2014 04:48:22 am
I believe that my greatest downfall would be doubting things in life. I say this because I am known for doubting things that happen or think. An example would be that if I am taking a test and I say to myself that I am going to pass it, I automatically think that I am not going to pass it. I have no idea why I do this but I chose this to be my downfall because I have an ability of thinking that if I am going to achieve something, I begin to think the opposite of what I want to achieve.
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Leticia Diaz
2/2/2014 03:13:31 pm
Such as Macbeth every protagonist obtains a flaw which will eventually lead to his down fall. However, the protagonist aren't the only ones that obtain this fall. As humans we all contain flaws of our own. For example my flaw of my own would be determination and a kind heart. Sometimes I care to much about people and about what happens to them. If I see people hurt it hurts me and it gets to me causing me to be cold hearted with the person who caused the pain. I often mistreat others if they cause pain or something. Determination is also my flaw because sometimes blinds me and makes me want To achieve what I want. I would sometimes do anything to achieve what I want to achieve.
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Lady Panfilo
2/3/2014 09:08:30 am
If I was a tragic hero my flaw would probably be love. Love to my family and friends is something that will get me kill. Why? Well I say this for many reasons like I would give my life for my family and also I would lie to them to keep them safe. I'm the type of person that if it came to give up my life for someone I love then I would do it. If I need to lie for them even though it might be wrong then I would do it as well. Even though it might be wrong, I will still do it because family and friends always stick to your side no matter what. This flaw can be used against me in so many different ways and the person that is using it against me will gain something out of. How do I know this? Well, I'm me and I know my weak spot and it is love and nobody can take that away from me. I know that my family and friends got my back then I should do the same. I know that they will protect me and take care of me. I wouldn't change this flaw from anything because without love then there is no connecting between my family and me.
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Leonel Rivas Junior
2/3/2014 10:03:29 am
If I were to be a tragic hero my biggest flaw would be that I forget things. This would be my biggest flaw because if someone told me that I would have to complete a certain task I would completely forget and later get in trouble for not completing the task. For example, in my house my mom tells me to go take out the trash and i reply with a yes. But like I'm doing something else I forget that I need to do it and later get scolded at for not doing what they told me to do. This would be a major flaw in a book because if in the story they told me to do something important like give some poison or something to a king I would probably forget and leave the king alive when he is supposed to be dead. So this is why forgetting things would be my major flaw.
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Yesenia Garcia
2/3/2014 10:17:17 am
If I was a tragic hero my flaw would be having to much confidence on people and believing in them. I think I would get killed because I would share many secrets that I would get betrayed by my own people. I don't know why I always believe in believe in people and have confidence in them and at the end they just betray me or tell things that I told them. Believing in people is another big flaw that I have. I always believe people when they tell me things and at the end it is not true or they don't do things that they say they will do. I think these are the two biggest flaws in which I would be betrayed or killed.
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Tania Celestino
2/3/2014 11:00:15 am
My flaw would be being forgetful. This would be my biggest flaw because if I had to accomplish a certain task I would completely forget what it was after five minutes. I have to do things right away for me to be able to remember things. I forget even the most important things, I can not control the type of things I remember. I believe this is can be a disease for young people but then again I am the only one that has these "symptoms." This would be the only flaw that can ultimately destroy me.
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Bryan Amaro
2/3/2014 11:27:41 am
If I were a tragic hero, my flaw would be forgetting things. When I was little, I tend to forget even the simplest things like someone's name. But till the day, I still can forget information if I was told any like to remember to do a chore and I'll forget it after ten minutes or if I were to have a lot of assignments to do and forget one of them. This is a flaw for me because if i were to forget to do something important, then it could affect me in the future.
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Anahi Ramon
2/3/2014 11:40:06 am
If I was a tragic hero my flaw would have been trusting other people than myself or believing in them too much. I think I don't do that many things with out thinking it out first. I didn't know of believing someone else can lead you to big trouble just like Macbeth for having trust on the witches that eventually he will soon be king.Just to believe some one else can be a flaw because eventually they will betray you in the future.the only people I really trust is my family because I know that they are always going to be right there for me and by my side. But the two biggest flaws I believe in are killing or not trusting others.
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Heidi Ramos
2/3/2014 12:23:17 pm
Macbeth, his flaw was his ambition and how he really wanted to be king so he would kill anyone that would stand in his way. When he first killed Duncan and the 2 servants he felt real guilty and was real paranoid, he couldn't handle it but after he started killing other, it became normal to him, he didn't feel guilty anymore. See if I was a tragic hero my flaw would be my conscience and how paranoid I would be. I wouldn't be able to sleep or live if I know that I killed someone for doing nothing. See if I was mad at that moment I wouldn't care, I would just want to kill them but later I would feel so guilty and bad that I would probably kill myself because I wouldn't be able to live knowing that I killed someone because I was being selfish and wanted to be king.
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Brian Vidal
2/3/2014 12:47:40 pm
If I were to be a tragic hero, I think the biggest flaw that I would have is trust. I say that, because in the past, I've trusted people because they seemed nice and friendly, but as time goes on, you start seeing their true colors, and you're just left thinking to yourself, "What have I gotten myself into?" You're left realizing that after a certain person you trusted back stabs you or betrays you, and it's not such a great feeling. I would see that as being a main cause for a death of a tragic hero in a tragedy.
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Ashley Guerrero
2/3/2014 12:50:22 pm
Similar to the story behind Macbeth, we all seem to carry our flaws everywhere we go. Some flaws are of course, worse than others. But similar to Macbeth, I have some flaws that may pull me down. If I were a character in a tragic hero story, I would say my flaw of being very paranoid about the simplest things would probably become my flaw. I tend to flinch in situations that do not make sense in the situation at all. It can be very annoying but, I see it as a flaw. Maybe it can be seen similar to Macbeth's flaw of hallucinating because of the murder of the king and what not.
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Fatima Romero
2/3/2014 12:51:47 pm
I guess that my flaw would be that I'm very forgetful. Sometimes I tell myself that I must do something and later on throughout the day I end up forgetting the thing that I had to do. This more than I want to admit because am planning my day out and by the end of the day I do not accomplish of what I set myself to do. This flaw has come and hunt me for most of my first semester and lead me procrastinate on my work.
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Jocelyne Ramirez
2/3/2014 01:02:58 pm
I think that my biggest flaw, that would tragically end me and to full extent my life, is my clumsiness. I am so clumsy that I would not be surprised if I accidentally fell and broke my neck. I am such a klutz that it has become part of my daily life, I trip once a day, I accidentally drop something, or who knows what else. All I know is that no matter what people believe I am far from perfect.
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Chrisian Marquez
2/3/2014 01:35:43 pm
I would say that my biggest flaw is having to much trust towards people that I do not know. If I meet someone new I automatically trust them because they have not given me any reason not to trust them. I think that the flaw could potentially lead to my death because not everyone deserves trust due to their attitude or habits.
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Victor Esteban
2/3/2014 01:50:38 pm
In my life I believe I have a lot of flaws that eventually would lead to my failure. However the main flaw that might lead to my ruin is my thought of not being able to accomplish something. This is something that I think all the time. Especially when I have a test or a project, I worried that am going to get a bad grade, that at the end I do get a bad grade. But when I feel confident about something I end up getting a good grade.
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Jennifer Chupin
2/3/2014 02:23:15 pm
If I was a hero, I'll probably be the laziest one ever. I'll be saying things like oh ill do it later. I'm very forgetful also. There has come days where I literally learned something that day & forget everything I learned. Then the next day or so, I remember everything when it isn't necessary anymore. Procrastination will be a huge flaw also. I feel like I'll be a super hero that no one will want to call for anything. I'll be getting there like the next day when everyone is probably died already.
I think my biggest flaw, that will lead to my end, is my confidence. I have very low confidence that every time I try to speak in front of a class or people, I just blackout and forget what to say. I always try hard to control my conscious to increase my confidence, but no matter how hard I try, I just cannot be able to be calm and speak with confidence. Every day I have to go through with this problems and it honestly drives me crazy. I also have low confidence within myself, when I do promise that I will do, but end up not doing it. If I keep this flaw for the rest off my life then I really do not know what will happen to me when I am in college or in a job.
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Michael Ponce
2/3/2014 04:28:02 pm
If I were a tragic hero my biggest flaw would be procrastination because I always wait for the last minute to do things. Procrastination would lead to my death because if i wait for the last minute to do things I usually end up with bad results. Therefore my flaw is procrastination which is similar or the same as laziness.
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Diane Leal
2/3/2014 10:32:02 pm
If I was a tragic hero I would have two flaws. My first flaw would be my kindness. Some people seem to take advantage of it and betray me. Which would then lead me to my second flaw which is retaliation. No matter how hard I try I can never seem to forget and forgive. It does not matter whether I get the person back in a minor or major form, but I will do it. Although sometimes I do not get them back because I had a change of heart, I am always left with the memory of their betrayal and it dominates me. Kindness and retaliation would ultimately bring me to my failure.
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Jonathan Velasco
2/3/2014 11:25:13 pm
If I was a tragic hero, my flaw would probably be that I feel sympathy towards mostly everyone. If I would have to kill Duncan, for example, I would let him know it was me by giving him a note. Then after I ask him to open it and he does, I kill him Even if I killed Duncan in the most painless way, I would still feel bad because even though he was pretty old, he could have still lived for a few more years.. Another example would be that if I would have to kill a best friend, after I kill him I would feel like if I would have to tell everyone that it was me who had done it. Therefore, my sympathy, sometimes strong or a lot, would lead my death if I was tragic hero.
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Joshua Vissoni
2/3/2014 11:36:59 pm
If I were a tragic hero a flaw that would eventually lead to my demise would be not caring enough over important issues. Many people actually care about what goes on around them, but I on the other hand do not. I like to not care about what is going on either with my friends or around me because it causes unneeded feelings or stress. I also put it out there when I do not care so someone won't be mislead and think I care about their new Playsation 4. For example, if the three weird sister told me I would become king, guess what I would do? Not care... first of all they are called the three WEIRD sisters, so that would lose them all credibility at least through my eyes. Not caring would bring me to my downfall because I felled to acknowledge an assassination plot that was put forth by my own friend.
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Angel Mis
2/3/2014 11:59:22 pm
The only real flaw I see in myself is vanity as I will always believe that I can do anything. Of course, this flaw also leads me to believe that I have no flaw and that really is the strength behind my words. If someone wanted to get rid of me, they would have to manipulate that trait and could do so easily. However, it does give me strength and makes me a tough character to remove from any story.
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This blog is a collaborative effort from Mrs. Navarro's 4th period Honors English 10 students. Go Stallions!